Pestillence, Part 1

The origins of the world.

And the origins of Cursed Power.

That is something that many people -even most Pro Slayers- don't know much about.

Growing up, kids were always taught that thousands and thousands of years ago, humans ruled the Earth, and demons reside in Hell. That is, until one day… demons fled Hell to take over Earth, slaughtering mankind and using them as slaves.

But in reality, humans were never the dominant species. The truth is that demons aren't from Hell, they're from Earth, just like humans, and ruled it fairly, survival of the fittest. Humans are weaker than demons, with their enhanced physical prowess and special abilities. On top of that, demons need to eat humans to survive, so naturally, humans weren't at the top of the food chain.

Humans lived in fear, while demons ruled over Earth. That is, until one man was born; a half demon, with extraordinary power. As half-demons are known as the "superior lifeforms" above both humans and demons, using his powers, this half-demon managed to seal all demons in Hell, resulting in the human-ruled world that we know today.

The demons that we see on Earth, are the ones who slip out from in between the ever-growing cracks in the portal between Hell and Earth.

Growing up, kids were always taught that demons came from Hell, rather than being imprisoned in Hell, to further drive home prejudice against demons and the desire to slay them, as demons -although somewhere with a just reason- are the enemies of mankind.

But aren't you curious?

That story that I just mentioned, taught to children in the form of a nursery rhyme.

Wouldn't you like to see how it played out?

***

"Alright, another successful conquest!"

A female demon with curly orange hair and red scales wearing shining silver knight armor and a striking red comb, collapses onto a throne in a mighty castle, and takes a giant swig from an ale-filled bottle. Behind her, are two naked, sobbing, bloodied women who struggle to take off the demon's armor, and massage her sore muscles.

This demon is known as "War the Calamity," sometimes called the "Demon Queen" and the right-hand woman and second in command of Death, the Demon King.

"Only a few more human villages left to pillage, until we have full control over Earth," comments a completely humanoid second demon with no scales, one with long brown hair and glasses, and wearing brown leather armor with small bits of chainmail covering it.

This demon is known as "Famine the Consumer," the brains of the demonkind.

"HEAR YE, HEAR YE!" Another demon with scales as black as night and scales white like bones, wearing flowing, noble robes and cloaks booms as he enters the room.

This demon is known as Death, the king of demonkind and the strongest of all the demons.

"Really?" War sneers as she rolls her eyes.

"Out of all the trend in humanity we've seen over the years, you've grown quite fond of this partially manner of speech, Lord Death," snickers Famine

"Hah hah, it's fun!" Death laughs as he takes a seat on his giant throne sitting in the back of the mighty, noble castle, which towers over War's and Famine's thrones.

"Pestilence!" Death then booms as he turns to face another demon who enters the room, a tall, tall demon standing at six and a half feet tall, with long, shoulder length black hair and toxic green eyes with unnatural poisonous purple pupils. The demon is covered with toxic green and poisonous purple scales, and wears a tunic. Unlike the other adult demons, Pestilence is only a teenager.

The whites of all of these demons' eyes are black.

This demon is known as "Pestilence the Plague," the most gruesome and ruthless demon of the four, but also with the kindest heart. A heart that the other three demons despise, but are fond of Pestillence's strength.

And together…these four demons form the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." Their names and titles have been granted to the four demons due to Death spreading death wherever he goes, as well as his ability to control the dead, War being the master of the battlefield and war, Famine, consuming everything with the mythical beasts that her Cursed Ability transforms her into, spreading famine, and the plague that Pestilence's poison gas spreads wherever he goes. 

"Yes, Lord Death?" Pestilence asks as he kneels before Death, his King.

"I have an assignment for you," Death replies. "War, Famine, and myself are tired, so I'll send you to take care of it."

"But I fought t-" Pestilence begins to say, but Death cuts him off.

"The recent village we just plundered, go back and make sure that there are no survivors," Death answers, causing Pestilence to peer down to the ground and frown, saying nothing.

"Pestilence?" Death asks with a small smirk, shocking Pestilence back to reality.

Famine snickers.

"You're cruel, Lord Death!" War cackles. "Pestilence is too pussy to really kill anyone while we're around!"

"That's why I'm sending Pestilence on this job," Death answers. "To prove to us that he has what it takes to stand in the ranks as one of the Four Horsemen. Otherwise, I'll have to-"

"N-no I'm not!" Stammers Pestilence, who jumps to his feet to confront the other three demons, interrupting Death. "I'll go snuff out any remaining survivors of that village, Lord Death!" Pestilence then continues as he turns to face Death, who nods approvingly at Pestilence in response.

"Good boy," Death says as he condescendingly smirks at Pestilence. "Now go!"

"Yes, Lord Death!" Pestilence nods as he turns and jogs out of the castle.

***

After fleeing the castle, Pestilence rushes over to the stables and hops on top of his midnight black horse, Valkyrie, a demonic horse. Claws awkwardly bulge out of Valkyrie's hooves, Valkyrie has small, curly blood red horns sticking out of the sides of her head, and Valkyrie has bright red, demonic eyes, with a red, streaked main.

"YAH!" Pestilence shouts as he grabs Valkyrie's reigns and whips them down, causing the mighty steed to rear into the sky with a powerful neigh, then take off.

"Fly, Valkyrie, fly!" Pestilence laughs as Valkyrie tears through the demon-ruled town where the Four Horsemen reside in, and into the grassy pains below; human territory.

***

Pestilence laughs as Valkyrie gallops onwards, the wind rushing through his hair and Valkyrie's mane. Valkyrie hops over fallen trees, weaves through rocks, and ducks under logs as she gallops onwards through the large forest separating human territory and the Demon King's castle.

Along the way, Pestilence spots a large clearing in the forest that had a stream leading into a miniature waterfall which poured into a small lake surrounded by stones in the middle of the forest.

Pestilence gives Valkyrie's reins a small tug, and Valkyrie's gallop slows into a trot, then eventually halts.

"Let's get something to drink, shall we?" Pestilence asks as he hops off of his steeds and leads Valkyrie over to the lake. Once at the lake, Valkyrie reaches down and begins lapping up water, as Pestilence kneels down next to his steed, scooping up water in his scaly claws and holding it up to his mouth to drink.

"Ahh…" Pestilence lets out a small sigh of satisfaction once he's finished drinking.

Pestilence then hears a small rustle of leaves come from his side, and turns and peers over to where he hears the noise, spotting the silhouette of a human woman at the opposite edge of the lake by the waterfall, her body obstructed by trees, leaves, and branches.

"Hmm…she must be from that village," Pestilence comments. "I…I don't really want to kill her, but Lord Death will be upset with me if I don't, so…it looks like I don't really have much of a choice."

Pestilence sighs as he creeps over to the woman, his claws poised and ready. Once Pestilence is close enough to the woman, he ducks down in the leaves behind the women, observing her. The woman looks to be around Pestillence's age, and stands in the lake, naked, lashing herself in the water, her clothes strewn about. And then, when the woman turns around…Pestilence's eyes widen.

"She's frickin' beautiful…" Pestilence softly says to himself.

The woman then flinches in surprise.

"Is…is someone there?" She nervously asks, as she reaches for her clothes to cover herself up.

Pestilence let out a small gasp then ducks behind the leaves for cover, but the woman's eyes trail towards Pestilence.

"Shit, she spotted me!" Pestilence whispers to himself. "What should I do? She's too beautiful to kill! But Lord Death will be mad at me if I don't…"

"I-I saw you, you know!" The woman stammers. But judging by her reaction, the woman didn't get a good look at Pestilence, and can't tell that he's a demon.

"Screw it, let's play it by ear!" Pestilence snaps as his claws, horns, scales, and tail revert back into his body, as Pestillence's eyes take a medium blue color, so that Pestilence looks fully human.